Press Room

Jambbas Ranch’s Animal Welfare Violations Grow Alarmingly

Posted on May 7, 2013

For immediate release

Contact:Lisa Franzetta, ALDFDavid Perle, PETA

(Photo by PETA)

Fayetteville, N.C. — PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) have just obtained a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report showing that Fayetteville-based Jambbas Ranch Tours, a roadside zoo with an abysmal record of animal neglect, has again been cited for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The April 10 report cites Jambbas for failing to give veterinary care to a dehydrated and very thin rabbit who was reportedly too weak to reach her water can. According to the report, the rabbit was suffering from a foot wound and overgrown nails and had been "treated" only with Vaseline for ear mites. Photos of rabbits in Jambbas’ barren wire cages are available here.

This latest AWA violation came shortly before the USDA renewed Jambbas’ license on May 4, even though renewal applicants are required to "demonstrate" compliance with the AWA. PETA, ALDF, and local citizens filed a lawsuit last year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina’s Western Division in Raleigh, N.C., challenging the USDA’s renewal of Jambbas’ license and will now seek to amend that complaint to include the rabbit incident and challenge this latest permit renewal.

"It’s unconscionable for the USDA to renew Jambbas’ license less than a month after citing the zoo for neglecting a rabbit who was too weak to move the few inches necessary to get a sip of water," says PETA Foundation Director of Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "This is clear evidence of direct noncompliance," says ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells, "and ALDF and PETA will address the government’s failure to protect animals in our ongoing lawsuit."

Jambbas’ long list of AWA violations includes repeatedly failing to provide numerous animals with veterinary care, allowing bison to be swarmed by flies until their skin was so irritated that they licked it raw, forcing potbellied pigs and goats to live in enclosures covered with waste, and more.